dice placement

Cwali games has launched a crowdfunding campaign to produce the dice rolling Roll to the Top game. The campaign has received 6,600 Euro in support of the 10,000 Euro needed to create the game with 243 backers on board. The campaign ends December 17th at 2pm MST and has an estimated ship date of April 2018.

Simple to Learn

The goal of the game is straightforward: Fill in all the squares on your Challenge sheet. The challenge sheet is comprised of small boxes that climb vertically. Players roll 5 dice and fill in the boxes from the bottom to the top, with each new number needing to be higher or equal to the number below it. When choosing number from the dice players can select a number from one die, or select the sum from two or more dice.

A selection game similar to the award winning Qwixx, all players can use the rolled dice to fill in their own challenge sheet at the same time.

Players have a pool of various dice to choose from, and each time a player rolls they can add or remove a die to better their odds of hitting particular numbers.

What’s in the Box?

Kickstarter stretch goals may add additional content, but base content in the box will include:

5 different Challenge pads

25 Burj Khalifa sheets

25 Pyramid sheets

25 Eiffel Tower sheets

25 Matterhorn sheets

25 Tree sheets

5 dice: D4 / D6 / D8 / D12 / D20

1 other die with 2x ‘ + ‘, 2x ‘ – ‘, 1x ‘ +/- ‘ and 1x exchange sign

Sold Out!

Both Powerships and Habitats by Cwali games have been sold out in stores but will be available in limited numbers through this crowdfunding campaign at certain pledge levels.

From Brotherwise Games, the creators of Boss Monster, comes a new dice placement game – Unearth. 2-4 players will control a team of delvers represented by 5 dice and place them on resources or ruins to uncover ancient cities or build new wonders, competing to be the best at reclaiming a lost era. The game features beautiful isometric artwork with adorable characters, an easy-to-teach 16 page rule book, and enough space in the box to sleeve all the cards if you want! More details via the press release:

“Players take turns rolling dice to claim Ruins, using Delver Cards to enhance their efforts. High rolls help players claim Ruins to earn points. Low rolls allow players to uncover Stones, used to rebuild ancient Wonders that grant special abilities. Ruins and Wonders can each help you win, but players must decide how to balance these two paths to victory.”

It’s an excellently put together product that looks delightful. The artwork is charming, I especially enjoy how the D8 represents the “leader’s” crystal on his staff, and the D6s represent the heads of the workers hammers. The gameplay and rules as described give a distinct impression of a gateway game to the dice placement genre (which is my favorite genre, so I welcome it), but with two paths to victory which is equally appreciated. If you’re interested in Unearth, look out for it at Gen Con 2017 and at your local retailer on August 17th, and be sure to check out brotherwisegames.com around June 12th for more news concerning this game.

Brotherwise Games, publisher of the 8-bit dungeon building game Boss Monster, has announced their next game, Unearth. It’s going to be a dice-placement game designed by Jason Harner and Matthew Ransom, with art by Jesse Riggle. In the game you are exploring the ruins of the great cities of old, trying to claim them as your own and build up places of power to restore a bygone age. Play will use a set of 5 dice for each player, three 6 sided, one 4 sided, and one 8 sided die, each representing different explorers.

So far the game sounds great and more information will be released as time goes on, so look forward to it’s launch in August!

There are some board games where you’re fighting ghosts and trying to defeat them, but how about where you’re playing as the ghost? Ghostel is a new game from Tinkerbot Games now on Kickstarter. Ghostel is a 2-4 player dice placement game for families where players are ghosts trying to scare away hotel guests.

Gameplay is split into rounds, each with a Day phase and a Night phase. During the Day, people enter the hotel and the ghosts hide in the attic and prepare by buying Terror bonuses, Scare tactics, and Spookie favours. At Night, the ghosts go to the rooms and use their dice and cards to scare the people out of the hotel.

If you’re looking for a family-friendly game with a good theme, cute art (including a caricature of my friend), and ghost meeples, then check out the Kickstarter page here.

Rome: Rise to Power, an upcoming board game by Golden Egg Games debuting at Essen, is now live on Kickstarter. In this game, 2-4 players take on the role of rising noble families trying to gain influence and control over Rome. The mechanics include dice placement and special action cards where you can build your own unique deck. If you back the Kickstarter, you can choose for an early pick up at Essen this year when the game debuts, but the projected release to the US market is Q1 2016.

In the late Roman Republic, four noble families try to assume power over the strongest nation in the old world. Players gain popularity by affecting the four influential areas of everyday Roman:

● Expand the Roman sovereignty through military campaigns

● Exploit riches and supply the Forum’s Markets

● Exhibit your power by offering the best shows in the Games

● Extend your political influence by giving away exclusive privileges to the decadent senators of the republic.

Rome: Rise to Power lasts five rounds of play, with each round being divided into four phases:

● Roll Power Dice and determine turn order

● Placement of Power Dice

● Resolution of Power Dice

● Scoring and clean up

After five rounds, players tally their points. The player with the most points wins the game and is declared the first of the Imperator.

Rise to Power ™ System

At GEG, we have designed an innovative dice placement system that enhances player decisions while reducing the luck factor. The system uses a combination of special action cards that break the rules of play. By changing these cards to build your unique deck, you will create a personalized gaming experience that will ever evolve with you and your gaming group.